Category Archive

It’s always nice to have one piece that
doesn’t fit with the rest of your outfit. It’s best to start with an accessory,
then work your way up to that bright red trench coat you’ve been dreaming of. So why not start with this red Lukesville watch?

Diet Butcher Slim Skin – which
manages to win the awards of best & worst brand name simultaneously – are
another Japanese brand that feature Punk influenced clothing with a
contemporary Japanese twist. With Pinstriped purple coats, wraparound cardigans
and a waistcoat that can be tied at the bottom, it’s definitely more daring
than fellow counterpart Lad Musician. They’re also more clearly influenced by
bands such as The Clash and The Jam, whilst Lad Musician are influenced by The
Rolling Stones.

Given the fact that London Fashion Week has
been especially weak for menswear, we’ve had to focus on label’s spring summer
collection. Surface To
Air have been featured here a good few times and for good reason; Their
pieces are top notch. In addition to the jewellery that Tim Hunter discovered,
they’ve added footwear to the latest collection.

Are you a fan of killing two birds with one
stone? In a figurative sense of course, we don’t condone bird-murdering on
Brandish. One True Saxon‘s
spring/summer range has popped up online and they’ve made a travel brochure
that features a city soundtrack, bars, restaurants, clubs and places to start a
fight before yelling ‘Leave it Dave, He’s not worth it!’. Maybe not that last
one.

We’re ardent D.I.E fans here at Brandish.
So we could barely contain our excitement when the D.I.E S/S range went up at
Oki-Ni. While they do make other items, everyone knows that eye catching t-shirts
are their speciality.

I just found this article from the New York Times on the trend for skinny male models. In the article, Hedi Slimane is credited with popularising the waif-like silhouette for the modern man and I personally don’t think they’re too far off.

The thing about brands is that different
people have different relationships with them. For people like the fabulous Henry Conway,
Ralph Lauren polo shirts might conjure up images of days out at Ascot, Croquet
and Daddy embezzling money from the government (Ba-doom-chish!). I just think
of Chavs, or as they were called back in my day, Essex boys. Without giving you
my life story – I’m saving that for another post – when I was at secondary
school, fake Ralph Lauren polo shirts were all the rage. In those days, you
spotted a fake by looking at the number of legs on the horse of the logo. Fakes
had 3 or less, real ones had 4. This led to a horse-logo-checking habit that’s
stayed with me to this day.

The Adidas originals range tends to throw
up interesting collaborations from time to time and this is no different. The originals
denim by Diesel range is an interesting mix – if only for the fact that you
wonder why Diesel agreed to it. It’s not bad in any way, it’s just that the
pieces are just Diesel jeans with some Adidas branding attached.

Don’t underestimate the power of socks.
Okay, it’s not like they can put you in a chokehold or anything – but they can
ruin a perfectly put together outfit. Match your Nike running socks with a pair
of shoes and you’ll look like you get style tips from Larry David, regardless
of well dressed you are. Put it this way; if you have a brown pair of shoes,
you need these Paul
Smith socks.

When stylists create looks, they often make
un-wearable pieces workable. This trick of the eye usually leads to a
collection full of underwhelming individual pieces and great looks. A.P.C avoid
this problem with their nautical-themed S/S 2008 collection. As well as having
eye catching overall looks, the collections also full of wearable individual
pieces. The pick of the bunch is this leather
strapped weekend bag.

Next to Samurai denim, Studio D’artisan is one of the
most popular denim manufacturers amongst aficionados. It’s unthinkable that a
denim aficionado’s brand wouldn’t make selvage jeans, so they’re here in
abundance. Although the site states that the cuts range from loose to slim,
they actually range from slim to skinny.

For just over a week now, we’ve seen the catwalk reports for Autumn/Winter 2008 appear daily on Brandish. McQueen pleased, Prada shocked and Rykiel came with a warning (of its brilliance I hasten to add.) Going through the shows it looks as though this season we men will get in detail what we give in cash.

The Comme des Garçons SHIRT collection typically hit the mark this season with an accuracy which Mrs Tell hoped for her husband William when she waved him off with their son, a crossbow and an apple that fateful morning.

Someone at Attachment watched Oliver Twist
over the holidays. Either that or they got a Russell Brand DVD. Either of those
excuses would explain their decidedly Edwardian (Or is it Victorian? I’m no
historian) theme at their A/W show in Paris.

Miharayasuhiro have been branching out,
teaming up with Puma for a successful trainer collection. Their S/S collection
was a success, showcasing wearable pieces that are more about fit than
extravagant details. The A/W collection looks to be a continuation of that
theme.